The best Christmas murder mystery audiobooks for 2026

The recording

Seasons 1 to 4 are on Audible UK, each rated between 4.86 and 4.89 for performance by hundreds of listeners (season 2: 4.86 from 962). Seasons 2 to 4 were made in Dolby Atmos (Audible newsroom, 22 December 2025). Season 1 has seven episodes; its total length is not listed.

Why it ranks here

It has the largest and highest rating counts of any Christmas mystery found on Audible UK. Audible’s newsroom (22 December 2025) calls it “a top listen” in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, and The Globe and Mail notes its theme, Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy “slowed down to sound lightly sinister”.

Good to know: There is no book behind it: it was written for audio, and it has since been made into a Hallmark TV series. Start with season 1.

Sources Audible UK search The Globe and Mail

The recording

A BBC full-cast dramatisation, with John Moffatt as Poirot. Listeners rate the performance 4.85 from 74 ratings, and 4.52 overall from 106. It is a drama, so it is shorter than the story it is based on.

Why it ranks here

Bella Mackie picked the story for The Guardian’s Christmas crime round-up, praising “a comforting and wholesome family scene where something sinister appears to be bubbling underneath”. At 44 minutes it fits between Christmas lunch and the King’s speech.

Good to know: The BBC also dramatised Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, with Peter Sallis (1h 20m, Performance 4.43 from 56 on Audible UK). It is a drama, not the full book.

Sources Audible UK search The Guardian round-up (via Yahoo)

The recording

Hugh Fraser, who played Captain Hastings on television, reads the full novel in 6 hours 8 minutes. US listeners rate the performance 4.80 from 2,551 ratings.

Why it ranks here

Picked by Sophie Hannah in The Guardian’s round-up as “the perfect novel to remind you that you’re probably having a much jollier Christmas”, and by Martin Edwards for National Book Tokens: “Classic Christie, and a perfect Poirot for the Yuletide season”.

Good to know: The UK listing was not returned by Audible’s UK catalogue, so the figures here are from Audible US.

Sources National Book Tokens (Martin Edwards) The Guardian round-up (via Yahoo)

The recording

Patience Tomlinson reads the full novel in 6 hours 59 minutes. Listeners rate the performance 4.39 from 148 ratings, and 3.96 overall from 168.

Why it ranks here

Fine Books Magazine reports that the 2014 British Library reissue sold an estimated 60,000 copies and outsold Gone Girl and The Goldfinch in British Christmas sales. It is also on the CrimeReads and Martin Edwards lists.

Sources Fine Books Magazine CrimeReads

The recording

James Saxon reads the full novel in 7 hours 20 minutes. Listeners rate the performance 4.5 from 230 ratings.

Why it ranks here

Martin Edwards (National Book Tokens) says it “harks back to the Golden Age style of writing”, which makes it a later book that still feels like the classics.

Sources National Book Tokens (Martin Edwards)

The recording

Gordon Griffin and Anne Dover read it in 8 hours 21 minutes. Listeners rate the performance 4.24 from 99 ratings, but the story itself only 3.7, so the narration scores better than the book.

Why it ranks here

It opens the CrimeReads list of ten “perfectly plotted” Christmas mysteries. It ranks last here because listeners rate the story lower than the reading.

Sources CrimeReads

The recording

Publishers Weekly’s audio review confirms the split: Daniel Weyman reads the two Dalgliesh stories, and Jenny Agutter reads the other two and the essay. US listeners rate the performance 4.5 from 247 ratings.

Why it ranks here

Short enough for one evening, with each story in a voice that suits it.

Good to know: A second listing runs 3 hours 3 minutes. The UK listing was not returned by Audible’s UK catalogue, so the figures are from Audible US.

Sources Audible US search

The recording

Fenella Woolgar reads the whole collection. US listeners rate the performance 4.71 from 833 ratings.

Why it ranks here

One collection covers most of Christie’s detectives, so you can pick a story to suit the evening.

Good to know: The UK and US editions have different contents: the US edition adds “Three Blind Mice” and an essay, which is why the lengths differ.

Sources Audible US search

The recording

Gordon Griffin and Anne Dover read the stories in 7 hours 35 minutes. Listeners rate the performance 4.5 from 48 ratings.

Why it ranks here

Edited by Martin Edwards, the series consultant for British Library Crime Classics. Good for dipping into one story a night.

Sources Audible UK search

The recording

Mike Rogers reads the collection in 8 hours 53 minutes. Listeners rate it highly, but only 11 have rated the performance so far.

Why it ranks here

Val McDermid’s pick in The Guardian’s round-up: “Warm, humorous and invariably clever with it”. It ranks lower because so few listeners have rated it.

Sources The Guardian round-up (via Yahoo)

The recording

Katherine Kellgren reads it in 9 hours 25 minutes. Listeners rate the performance 4.59 from 267 ratings on Audible UK.

Why it ranks here

Kellgren won 11 Audie Awards and 43 AudioFile Earphones Awards and was named an AudioFile Golden Voice (Wikipedia). She died in 2018, so this is the recording to have.

Sources Wikipedia: Katherine Kellgren

The recording

Barton Welch reads it in 5 hours 2 minutes. Library Journal praises his range of Australian accents, and notes that jingle bells and opening doors mark each chapter in the US audiobook.

Why it ranks here

Ernest speaks straight to the reader, which suits one voice in your ears, and it is the shortest full novel here.

Sources Audible UK search

The recording

Richard Coles, a vicar and broadcaster, reads his own Champton books. Murder Under the Mistletoe runs 2 hours 27 minutes, and A Carol and a Killing about 2 and a half hours (its audiobook came out on 22 October 2026).

Why it ranks here

Short, gentle and festive, read by the man who knows the parish world best.

Good to know: Both have their own verdict pages: Murder Under the Mistletoe and A Carol and a Killing.

Sources Hachette NZ Calibre Audio

The recording

Ana Clements reads the US edition in 9 hours 5 minutes. US listeners rate the performance 4.16 from 219 ratings.

Why it ranks here

What’s Good to Read gave it 5 out of 5, and Benedict now writes a new Christmas mystery each year.

Good to know: Each day has puzzles for readers to solve, so readers who want to solve them may prefer the print. The UK edition’s narrator was not confirmed.

Sources What’s Good to Read

The recording

David Thorpe reads both. The Santa Killer runs 11 hours 38 minutes, with a 4.75 performance rating from 758 listeners. The Christmas Killer (2 September 2026) runs 9 hours 31 minutes and is rated 4.92 from 92 so far.

Why it ranks here

Jen Med’s Book Reviews calls it “One of the top Police series out there right now”. The Santa Killer leads this entry because far more listeners have rated it.

Good to know: Darker than the rest of the list, though the reviewer says the violence is “kept largely off the page”.

Sources Jen Med’s Book Reviews